Ragdolls only come in pointed or pointed and white. Maine Coons come in all colors except pointed or the chocolate/lilac colors. IMO Raggys may be easier on the grooming side as they don't mat as much having silkier fur.

Given the choice (cause I won't own any long hair cat) I'd go with the Raggys cause its less grooming.

Maine Coons are my favorite breed, though, admittedly, I have never had experience with Ragdolls.

Maine Coons are lovable, sometimes goofy, very intelligent, beautiful cats. Their fur is very low-maintenance, despite being long. They seem to be healthy, large (but not fat) cats, IMHO. My Maine Coon mixes/1 former purebred is/were very loving, easy-going, intelligent and entertaining cats. Beautiful markings, too.

They also love to use those huge lion's paws to grab things--like my Leo, and the head of broccoli last week! He has a thing for fresh veggies, and runs into the kitchen when I'm cutting them. He stretches his looong body, and swipes at the counter. In this case, I was chopping the florets off the main stalk. I wouldn't give him any, so he actually swiped the stalk out of my hand!

To me, a Maine Coon is the perfect cat. Beautiful, sort of wild-looking, intelligent, people-oriented cats; fluffy, but not effeminate in personality--macho and strong, but yet have tiny voices. Playful, and get along with everyone, including other cats.

Ragdolls only come in pointed or pointed and white. Maine Coons come in all colors except pointed or the chocolate/lilac colors. IMO Raggys may be easier on the grooming side as they don't mat as much having silkier fur.

Given the choice (cause I won't own any long hair cat) I'd go with the Raggys cause its less grooming.

Both Maine Coons and Ragdolls have pretty much mat-free coats, and require very little grooming. A weekly combing is all it takes to keep it in top-notch shape. As far as coat goes, Raggies shed very little, aside from shedding season.
Ragdolls are slightly larger, males getting anywhere from 15-20lbs at maturity, while Coons reach 13-18. Of course cats are individuals, so some will be larger of smaller than that. I am not sure about Maine coons, as I don't have them, but Raggies (I have 2) reach maturity at 4 years old.
Raggies are low energy, sweet, mellow, cuddly, loving kind of cats... My female will play with my DLH, but my male is a total couch potato. My two are not lap cats, but they are the most loving cats I could possibly have. They do not sit on my lap, but they need to be within a couple of inches from me at all times. Bugsy, my male, has to sleep by my neck every night. If you are looking for a higher energy cat, Raggies are not for you... But if you are looking for companionship, a loving cat, who will absolutely love you through and through... then this is your breed hands down IMHO.
I don't think any cat has pros and cons, just some fit your personality/home/family/lifestyle better than others... For instance, if I put a bengal or a savannah here in my house with my 2 Raggies... can you just imagine what would happen?

I'm having trouble deciding between the two.
I love both equally, but I really need to make up my mind.

Is there someone out there who can give me pros and cons of each?

Sarah.

I say why don't you go to a shelter and adopt the kitty (or kitties) that chooses you? There are just so many kitties in need of good homes. And it's been my personal experience that those that are rescued are just the most loving and grateful cats you could ever imagine.

I'm a big fan of both as well, but decided on a shorthair as it seems to be pretty unanimous that they are less work from a grooming, poo-fur, and hairball management standpoint. My only other issue is that if you want to "shop" based on personality, you can't really do that w/ maines or rags as they hardly ever show up in shelters and most breeders want deposits so at best you have a selection just of the few kitties in the litter and usually pretty young so hard to tell what the general personality is like. On the plus side, w/ a good breeder you know the kittens weren't separated from their mothers too young and subject to scary stuff out on the streets as kittens and instead grew up "underfoot" smothered w/ affection from day one, heh.

Bicolor rags are my favorite pattern, and their fur is really soft and silky, whereas the Maine Coon has a more outdoor practical coat thats a bit more oily/waxy for protection from the elements. Rags will have quite a bit of white fur which definitely tends to show up on furnishing and clothes more IMO, as I always notice my kitties white belly fur, but not so much the darker parts.

Cool thing about both breeds is that despite being such big kitties, they seem to always have little tiny Mike Tyson voices hehehe!

I had been cautioned by experts to watch out for OVERLY large examples of their breed though, as apparently they can be prone to cardiovascular and hip issues.

I've noticed a LOT of Maine Coon-type cats in shelters. I had a wonderful male who looked and acted as though he could have been purebred MC, but was just a farm cat, as far as anybody knew. He was the best cat ever. Of course, if you want to be sure of getting a shelter cat of a certain type, you have to get an adult. . .nobody really knows how a non-pedigreed kitten will turn out.

My RB Maine Coon (mix?) named Paws was a big cat and very sweet. A true gentleman. DH used to describe him as "humble" and it fit. When Paws was young, he would stand up like a bear and play with our dog. I still miss him very much today, as I miss all my RB kitties.

I know someone with a Ragdoll and she is stunning. (If you look at some of Carolina's pictures, you'll see how gorgeous her cats are.) Ragdolls are also sweet cats. They sort of go limp when you pick them up, or so I've heard. My friend's isn't much for being picked up, but that's probably just that cat's opinion. None of my DSHs want to be picked up, either.

I'd say it would come down to whichever look you wanted more than anything. Both will require grooming; Maine Coons have sort of a thick (I'm sleepy, can't think of what you call the undercoat...or is undercoat what you call it?) And their coat is coarser than a Ragdoll's.

I guess it depends on where you are. Here in Houston area, I had left my number w/ a bunch of shelters and kept calling around and checking on petfinder.com to no avail for a maine coon for quite a while. And thats saying a lot, as it was "kitten season" or so they said, and they were overflowing w/ kitties.

The few available were also often snatched up by special breed foster groups here where getting an appointment involves a million hoops and long interviews just to meet the kitties.

If you want a purebred of either (instead of the look a likes in the shelter) contact some of the breeders on this site.

Also consider adopting a retired show/breeding cat if you don't want to pay the price of a kitten - purebred MC and Raggys start at $600+ - but they come with spay/neuter, all shots, FELV tested and wormings - and a health guarantee too.

purebred MC and Raggys start at $600+ - but they come with spay/neuter, all shots, FELV tested and wormings - and a health guarantee too.

True, but my regular kitties were also spay/neutered, all shots, FELV tested, wormed, and given a health guarantee for $35 + a voluntary donation. The $1000+ I often see for the purebreds here are definitely tied up more in the cost of showing the king/queens to get the papers and likely a bit of profit IMO.

True, but my regular kitties were also spay/neutered, all shots, FELV tested, wormed, and given a health guarantee for $35 + a voluntary donation.

Yeah, but rescues are working under a non-profit charity model. If I have all that done for a random stray cat I pick up (which happens frequently), it costs around $200, and my vet has fairly low prices. So I'd have to charge at least that much to break even.

Although I do agree that a lot of the price of a purebred puppy/kitten is largely due to the costs involved in showing the breeding animals, and possibly health-testing the breeding stock (of course any decent dog breeder does lots of health testing, but I don't know what testing cats need, other than some breed-specific things like HCM for Maine Coons).

I'd go with Ragdoll. Those blue eyes... Also the polydactyl issues bother me with Coons, which is another reason I'd prefer a Ragdoll. Both breeds have issues with HCM, which is why I'd go with a Birman instead of a Raggie..
how about a British Long- or Shorthair?

Sometimes I go on petfinder, and look for certain kinds of cats, you can search on size, color, disabilities, breed type, and everything. I have a deaf white cat so sometimes I search the database to see how many others are out there that need a place...

And I adopted a 14 year old cat from a shelter, and she was the BEST kitty. No messes, no clawing, very sweet, no climbing. AND she lived with us for 6 years!!!

Both Maine Coons and Ragdolls have pretty much mat-free coats, and require very little grooming. A weekly combing is all it takes to keep it in top-notch shape. As far as coat goes, Raggies shed very little, aside from shedding season.

I expect that depends on the lines, some Raggies shed a lot and require daily grooming. Same for Coonies, according to breeders I know. I would speak to the breeder and see what kind of coats her cats tend to have.

I just recently had that exact same debate and I choose the ragdoll because of their dog like personalities. She is a huge cuddle bug. However, my next cat will be a main coon. One thing that I have learned is if you go with a purebreed cat, make sure you do a lot of research on the breeder. I paid $500 for my kitten and she was covered in fleas. We found them on her when we go home and the breeder refused to do anything about it. My husband is very angry about it. So just make sure that if you get the cat anywhere that is not the shelter related, have the cat checked out immediately after and do research on the breeder.

Oh and to the person that said Maine coons don't do well in Texas? Wrong! Some of the best MCO breeders in the world are in Texas (CFA at least)...look it up!

Breeders, certainly. I meant the free-breeding strays/ferals/farm cats. I don't think the climate in Texas favors such a thick-coated cat. Whereas here, up north, many of the free-breeding cats are Maine Coon type longhairs. Survival of the warmest, I guess.

I have two ragdolls and I'd never have any other breed. I also have some basic cats that I love dearly, but there's something very special about my rags. My 'Angel' is the sweetest cat I've ever had or met. She's super affectionate, obedient, clean... just adorable. She comes when I call her name and answers with a little yeow? I've had my rags 8 years now and they've been a total delight. Angels sister from the same litter is Bruinhilda -- Hilda for short. She's a 25 lb baby girl with stunning blue eyes. The two have very different personalities but both are very laid back and groovy. I've never had a Maine Coon but from what owners have told me they're much busier than rags. My rags almost never meow unless they want something and they let you know what they want. I agree too that if you can don't buy, adopt. I never have to adopt. Since I live on a farm, I seem to run my own amateur shelter. People drop cats off at my place. The ones who choose to be outdoor cats live in my tack room and the others are brought in the house. They know who they want to be. Also, as other posters have said. My cat Angel picked me and my son's cat Hilda picked him. It was love at first sight. And lest I sound like a total crazy cat lady. I only have four.

I adopted a 12-yr old Maine Coon who had been mentally abused who lived another 5 yrs. I called him Rumpus

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Now I have a Maine Coon mix (skinny long legs, no lynx tufts on the ears, medium ruff), 2 yrs old and full of beans, I named him Kattopu, his previous name, Bailey, was just too ordinary.

I am also fostering a black with grey Maine Coon mix (no lynx tufts, but loads of hair, short thick legs, big ruff) who is very sweet and lovable but also had been mentally abused (alcoholic mom, and dad who was scared of cats and so constantly threatened the poor cat with his cane wherever he wen to keep the cat out of his way). Patrick is 3 yrs old and scared of everything, hiding behind a daybed, only comes out at night to eat, drink and use litter box. I can reach behind the bed to pet him which he loves and starts to purr but I can' t get him out from behind the bed. It will take some time before he will be ready to be adopted.. As you can see the mixes are as beautiful as the pure-bred.as you can also see this poor black cat is so scared he won't come out, he's just a black blob between the wall and the trundle bed (I pulled the mattress off the the trundle and you can see him through the springs. He has spent time at a cat hotel and then at a vet's in a cage. Now he is with me in a room by himself, no other cats are allowed in that room. Poor baby.

There are many breed-specific rescues and because both Maine Coons and Ragdolls are popular breeds, an unfortunate number of them will find themselves in a rescue or a shelter. Locally, there was someone trying to rehome TWENTY-SIX adult Ragdoll cats which had belonged to her and her mother, as she was getting evicted.